Dog Saliva and DNA

Can projects involving our best friends of the four-footed canine variety help to "sniff out" future biotech technicians?  What role do dogs play in biotech training at Southeast Community College (SCC) in Nebraska? Well, before I can answer that I need to give some background. As detailed in Madeline Patton's post on the American Association of Community Colleges' website, Professor Misty Wehling, and Dean Carolee Ritter were trying to expand SCC's biotech program but were having difficulty convincing other college leaders that there was sufficient need for biotech program graduates. Luckily, their MentorLinks mentor, Bridgette Kirkpatrick, visited SCC, added to Wehling and Ritter's efforts, and helped convince the administrator's that a biotech program would be a good addition to SCC. By fall 2022 the program had 30 students enrolled!

After COVID lockdowns had eased, Wehling and Tracey Niday, now co-directors of SCC's biotech program, got a chance to visit the biotech facilities at Solano Community College and Skyline College, These visits, along with the MentorLinks interactions, helped Wehling and colleagues receive a $617,232 Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant. This grant will fund a dedicated college educator who will help high school teachers and agriculture technology instructors add biotech to their courses. Dogs play an important role in the dual-enrollment curriculum, which includes a science project to analyze DNA from dog saliva collected by the students. Niraj Patel, director of operations at Neogen Corporation's Lincoln Facility, says that dogs are great to show science to teens. In addition, Patel hopes to recruit early in future biotech technicians' schooling to help fill crucial roles in his business.

Read more about the biotech at SCC and the dog saliva project in Patton's AACC post, and watch Wehling's presentation on the InnovATEBIO website.